Goosebumps: The Game Review

There’s a slim chance you haven’t heard of Goosebumps. This particular Goosebumps video game was developed by WayForward who mainly deals with licenced games and are best known for their Adventure Time games. Goosebumps was a staple in many American children’s lives with over 62 books published through the 90’s that were immortalized in various movies, TV shows, toys, and yes even a few video games.

You can imagine my excitement and feelings of nostalgia when I start to download Goosebumps: The Game. It’s around a mere 300 megabytes in size (which may be alarming to some). Hey, maybe there’s a few bumps (pun intended) but I’m sure I’ll enjoy revisiting some of my favourite creepy characters so much that I’ll look past them. I’m going to be honest with you, before I was set to play and write about Goosebumps: The Game, I hadn’t heard much of it or really looked into it at all for that matter. I’m sure it was a good idea in theory, releasing a video game around the same time as the new Goosebumps movie starring Jack Black; but it wasn’t. It really wasn’t.

Shortly after starting the game I realize it’s an effortlessly ported point and click game. Hey, I’m not discouraged. I like point and click games. Making their first true appearance on the PC in the early 1990’s, they’re perfect for smartphones but play a little odd with a Dualshock 4, still I’m open minded. Right away I start to get a feel for the main character. He’s a seemingly apathetic highschooler. Very dull and dreary. Some snippets from his dialog included “With a heavy sigh, you trudge back inside” and “The door opens slowly, as if trying to trap you” just to list a few gems. There is hardly any dialog audio in the entire game, only one or two times for good measure. The music has a classic 8-bit horror synth vibe going for it; it didn’t exactly touch my soul or add much to the suspense.

Gameplay was straightforward, if you’ve played a point and click you get it. The puzzles were OK at best. Some were timed, and some of them relied heavily on the players former knowledge of the Goosebumps books. There were several occasions where there was no hint in what could trigger certain events, only your understanding of the particular character from its book. That could either be really satisfying (if you’re a huge R.L. Stine fan) or extremely annoying because it’s probably been over a good decade since you’ve touched a Goosebumps book. Overall replayability is excruciatingly low UNLESS you’re a trophy hunter, in which case you’ve got an easy platinum

Overall replayability is excruciatingly low UNLESS you’re a trophy hunter, in which case you’ve got an easy platinum on your hands. Even if you’re completely unenthused with Goosebumps: The Game, you can easily platinum it in 5 hours or so (1 hour for those filthy casuals in the house who use walkthroughs).

I would like to say I personally wasn’t a fan of Goosebumps: The Game. Admittedly it may have been slightly more enjoyable using a mouse; I will be solemnly unbias in my score being that it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. Though it had more dialogue than adventure, sometimes unclear references, and a painstakingly anti-climatic story, it did have it’s few moments. It was very lighthearted and had many cute nods to R.L. Stein and his horror empire. If you’re a Goosebumps mega fan or a point and click pioneer you might actually get some enjoyment out of Goosebumps: The Game. If you’re not a Goosebumps superfan, or find point and clicks tedious this is a hard pass.